


troubled by the emptiness

by josiewrites



Category: Girl Meets World
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Riley/Lucas friendship, Riley/Maya friendship, lucaya - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-10 22:13:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12921303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/josiewrites/pseuds/josiewrites
Summary: You were running out of ways to fill the silence.





	troubled by the emptiness

**Author's Note:**

> I tried to keep this pretty ambiguous as far as whatever it is that happens to Maya. Hence why there are no content warnings.
> 
> Appreciate all who read. Thanks ahead of time, reviews are also very appreciated. -Josie

“I don’t want to talk about it. Please don’t make me.”

Maya’s pleading voice is rough and hoarse and she sounds as tired as she looks. Dark circles under sunken and dull grey-blue eyes, against her milky skin. Every feature a stark contrast to the next. You still thought she was the most beautiful person you’d ever laid on, or ever will. Even with her tousled, disheveled hair and the free flowing stream of tears making their way down her face. You had hoped, and asked a God you’re not so sure you still believe in, that you would never have to see her this broken. What were those words she used to say back in middle school and high school? When the world felt safe and you believed all of you would be okay.

Hope is for suckers.

Right. Seeing her in this state, broken down and so completely un-Maya like, was making you believe that maybe there was no hope left to be had. You didn’t want to think that. You wanted to keep her safe. 

Except when you walk closer to her than a certain few feet away, her whole body tenses. She doesn’t mean to react so visibly and you don’t mean to feel an ache growing deep in your chest and within your heart when you see heavy regret and an apology on her face.

You’ve only ever wanted to love and protect her. How did you fail so miserably?

“Okay,” you nod, because you’re not going to push her and what kind of an asshole would you be if you tried to force her into talking about something she wasn’t ready to face yet? You’d be the worst. 

You already felt like the worst.

“I’ll be right back,” you murmur, getting up to head into the kitchen of the apartment you have together. 

You don’t ask if she’s hungry, you know the answer. You’ve caught on the past week or so and figured out to just stop asking. Her answer will be no, every single time. But if you go to the kitchen and make something for her, she’ll accept it. With a small, barely-there, but gracious smile and a thank you. If the most she lets you do for her right now is feed her, you’ll take it. 

You miss holding her and talking to her, just being near her in a way that didn’t feel like you didn’t know each other. 

-

You call Riley because you don’t know what else to do. In any given situation, she’s the person Maya chooses to talk to first. This is different and you know it’s not personal. She needs her best friend and you just need her to be alright. 

Riley has been on standby twenty-four/seven since the incident took place. Maya hadn’t wanted to see anyone or, rather, she didn’t want anyone to see her. So, instead, Lucas would dial up Riley, turning the phone on speaker and setting it next to Maya on the bed where she stayed curled up day in and day out. Riley would talk enough for the both of them, updating Maya on her job and her family, her relationship with Farkle which was going strong for two years now. You appreciated it so much because you were running out of ways to fill the silence. You did better letting Maya have her space. She would come to you when she was ready and you’d be there. 

You see if Riley’s able to come into town. 

“I know it’s a lot to ask.”

“It’s not. Maya’s my best friend. You’re my friend, too, Lucas,” She’s always been willing to do anything for the people she loves, “I care about you both. I’ll be there soon.”

-

Maya flinches when there’s a knock on the door and you wish the world was a different place. She shouldn’t be scared in her own home, she shouldn’t be scared anywhere.

“It’s okay,” you say reassuringly, “It’s Riley.”

She perks up, her eyebrows raising in surprise when you mention the name of her best friend. Her friend that she hasn’t seen in over a year. You open the door and the brunette gives you a small smile as a greeting before she finds her way to Maya. 

-

You sit down against the wall, just outside of the doorway. There’s no actual bedroom door in the apartment, just an archway and the walls that stretch from either side of it. So you take up residence beside the entryway to the bedroom you once shared, not wanting to be too far away from her. You don’t intentionally eavesdrop, but it happens, as you stay in the spot you’ve been occupying.

“I love him,” Maya whispers, to Riley. 

“I know, Peaches.”

“He’s blaming himself and I’m blaming myself and this is all so fucked up. I don’t know if I’ll ever feel whole again. Lucas can’t fix it and he can’t put me back together and I’m so scared that I’m not enough.”

Maya sobs and sobs and you have to ground yourself from rushing into the room. 

You will always be enough.

You’re somehow willing every cell in your body to just stay fucking still and before long, you find yourself crying, too. Your tears are hot and they sting your bleary, tired eyes. 

After a while, you don’t hear Maya anymore and you don’t Riley whispering those quiet words of comfort either. Your head is still heavy in your hands when you feel a body sink down next to yours against the wall. 

“Do you think she’ll be okay?”

Riley smiles, soft and sweet, “Apart from my mother, Maya’s the strongest and fiercest person I’ve ever known. Everything takes time but before you know it, she’ll be great.”

That specific hope, belief in the world and the people in it, that Riley has was exactly what you needed right now. 

-

There’s a small moment, one morning when she calls you Huckleberry. 

It’s been too long since you’ve heard that name, heard it spill from her lips in a tone that can only indicate teasing. Her eyes are brighter than they’ve been in weeks and her mouth curves just only slightly into a somewhat playful smirk, but it’s progress. It’s music to your ears, a hopeful sound.

A quiet moment, but more than enough.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @ yellowbrick-roads


End file.
